Hirose-sensei conducted a monologue on the personal friendship between former US President Ronald Reagan and former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, and how it had influenced the relationship between Japan and the United States during their reign and beyond. Bored, Yuna drew a doodle from Nisha in her cat girl form. From time to time she squinted to the class representative, who was completely focused on the teacher and made notes on the side.
The blue-haired girl looked around the classroom. Gorou played on his cell phone under his tabletop while Rin dozed. At last, the Masuda girl looked at the empty seat next to her. She wondered if Hikari would be better today. She hoped so much.
A loud knock came from the door. Hirose-sensei stopped, went to the door and opened it.
"Yes, Jinzai-san?"
"Yuna Masuda is to come to my office," came the voice of the school principal. The blue-haired girl glanced at her teacher, who looked at her, then noticed that all the students were staring at her.
"Masuda-kun. You are required in the office of the rector. Please go."
Some students mumbled, but Nisha looked worried. Sighing, Yuna pushed herself up from her table and walked to the door. "Come back to class when you're done," Hirose-sensei instructed her.
"Yes, Sensei."
She looked at her school principal with whom she had only to deal once, after she had come back to school before the holidays and he wanted to welcome her personally. Otherwise she only saw him at school events. He was definitely not a teacher, but more of a manager, judging by his wardrobe. He might as well have worked for a bank or insurance company in his suit.
"What's going on?" she asked him.
"Follow me, Masuda-kun."
She followed the man to his office. He opened the door for her and let her enter first. Snorting, she rolled her eye as she saw the other student in the room. "Hey, Mononobe-san."
"Masuda-san," the reporter greeted shortly.
Yuna dropped onto one of the empty chairs in front of the principal's desk and leaned over to the other girl, hissing, "Didn't think you were a sneak."
"Masuda-kun. Hold back," the school principal lectured her. He walked around the table and sat in his chair. "You know why you're here?"
"Please enlighten me."
"Mononobe-kun came to me and told me that you had threatened her. Is that true?"
Well ... he got down to business quickly. "Yes," Yuna admitted frankly. Surprised, Anzu sucked in a breath, and Jinzai-san also raised an eyebrow.
"You don't deny that?" he assured himself.
"No. I threatened her." The Masuda girl gave a friendly smile.
The principal shook his head. "Why?"
"She wants to write an article about me that is not true. I asked her not to do it. She refused, so I threatened her," the blue-haired explained.
"It's true!" Anzu claimed. "This is about the freedom of the press!"
Soothing, the school principal raised his hands. "One moment. You didn't mention that she asked you not to publish the article."
"That's irrelevant. She must not threaten me!"
Yuna leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I think I have a right for my privacy."
"Of course," Jinzai-san agreed. "For me, the thing is clear. Mononobe-kun, you are prohibited from publishing this article unless Masuda-kun explicitly allows it."
The reporter opened her mouth incredulously. "That's a joke!"
"No. Masuda-kun has reasonable arguments. It is not in the interest of the school to violate the privacy of its students."
"But ... this is the most exciting story in a long time! You can't forbid me that!" Anzu raged.
"My decision is made. Especially in view of Masuda-kun's extraordinary situation, I would rather be careful."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuna wondered.
He smiled friendly. "You have some very difficult months behind you. I just want to protect you from harm."
"I can take care of myself." Outraged, she stared at her school principal.
"Of course." He folded his hands and looked at Anzu again. "The article will not be published. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Sensei," the reporter muttered, staring hostilely at the other girl.
"Good. Then go back to your classes."
Both students raised and bowed, then left the office. The girl with the dark brown hair stormed out of the room, while Yuna strolled serenely behind her. In the door she turned back to the director. "Thank you for your comprehension."
He looked up from his notes. "No problem, Masuda-kun."
Grinning, she closed the door and almost ran into the reporter, who glared at her angrily. "This is not over yet."
"You heard the principal." Superior grinned the blue-haired. "No publishing."
"He can only decide on the student newspaper. I will just publish it elsewhere. Or I turn to a real newspaper."
Amused, the taller girl grunted. "Of course, because a newspaper is interested in who I have a relationship with."
"You just don't get it, do you?" Anzu smiled contentedly from Yuna's perplexed look. "You are not a blank page in this city. What happened to your family was in the papers, and I found out something else."
"Now I'm curious. Am I related to the imperial family?" Yuna crossed her arms defensively.
The girl with the dark brown hair licked her lips. "I've heard that you should be the Takagi heiress."
Outwardly the blue-haired girl didn't show it, but inside her alarm sirens went off. She remembered the incident in front of Kazuki Chigusa's office building. She hadn't been the least aware of the fact that she had come in the interest of the public. If all these things got around, then it would definitely be over with a peaceful life for her and Yui.
"Are you just fooling around with all your stories, or is there any with proof?" Yuna wondered.
Anzu puffed up. "My uncle is a reporter and a good one. He certainly doesn't tell me any nonsense."
"Is that this pervert molesting schoolgirls with his camera?" A nasty grin graced the taller girl's face.
"Don't talk about my uncle like that!"
The door opened and the principal stuck his head out. "Didn't I send you back to your classes? What's going on now?"
"Nothing," both girls hissed as they stared at each other hostilely.
"Then move on and stop the quarrels. You are no longer small children." He energetically closed the door of his office.
"See you then, Masuda-san." Anzu turned on her heel and walked away quickly.
A deep sigh escaped Yuna. So how the hell could she handle this problem? How could she keep the reporter from publishing her stupid article? For a moment she thought about asking the oni for help, but then she shook her head determinedly. For such children's stuff they were not responsible and it didn't interest them in the slightest.
However, she might have to inform Haruka that the press was pestering her. Maybe the mayor could do something about it to get rid of this problem.
She went to the bathroom and dawdled otherwise on her way back into the classroom, because she could do well without Hirose-sensei's monologue. For a brief moment she had been listening as she had hoped to learn a little more about the time when Wataru's grandfather came to Japan, but apparently that part of the story was already ticked off.
When she entered the classroom, the teacher stopped briefly, nodded to her and then continued his lesson.
The blue-haired girl walked to her desk under the gaze of a few students and dropped onto her chair before folding her arms over the table and sighing as she laid her head down.
"What did the rector want?" Rin asked as she came over to Yuna during the break and sat on Hikari's seat.
"The pseudo-reporter went to him."
"I'm sorry."
Yuna grinned. "Don't worry. He has forbidden her to bring the story."
"Cool."
"Yes." Nisha passed them. "Hey, Nisha-chan. Do you know what your mother is doing today?"
The class representative stopped and turned to her. "No. Why?"
"Only like that ..."
"Is everything alright?" the cat girl asked.
The Masuda girl waved her hand in the air. "Yeah yeah. Don't worry about every little thing. Everything's cool."
She took her phone from her backpack and stepped out into the hall. She searched her contacts until she discovered the name Boss-sama. She dialed the number and held the phone to her ear. Yuna looked around the hall again, so she could be sure she had her peace. Two girls stood a little too close to her, so she walked a few yards when it clicked.
"Yes?"
Damn, even on the phone Haruka Narusegawa sounded annoyed. "Here is Yuna Masuda."
"What do you want?"
Nervously, the high-school student ran her fingers through her hair. "That might sound stupid, but I don't want to get in trouble because I didn't say anything."
"Yuna-chan. I'm a busy woman. If you have something to say to me, do it quick, okay?"
Hastily, Yuna nodded. "Okay. A reporter was lying in wait for me and my sister on Tuesday night. He knew who we were and asked questions about the Takagi heir."
"Do you have his name?" Haruka inquired.
"No."
"The name of the newspaper he works for?"
"No."
"How do you know then that it was a reporter?"
The girl sighed. "He took pictures of us and asked for my name. After that, he said that I was the Takagi heiress."
"Hm. That can have many reasons," weighed the mayor.
"His niece said he was a reporter. She wanted to write an article about me in the school paper, but the director forbade it."
"Do you have her name?"
"Anzu Mononobe." An annoyed snort came from the speaker. "Narusegawa-san?"
"Mononobe. Alright."
"What should I do?" the blue-haired wanted to know.
"You did everything right, Yuna-chan. I take care of it."
"Th..." Haruka had already hung up. Yuna took the phone from her ear and stared at it. This woman was really the devil in person.